I am amusing myself with watching the panic some people express over Elon Musk’s cleanup of Twitter.
Yesterday 3,700 of its 7,500 workers were fired. That is not good, but the company was losing money and making money is at the core of the capitalist game.
The Twitter Massacre
Matt Orfalea’s video compilation exposes the absurdity of Nord Stream propaganda
Who Blew Up the Nord Stream Pipelines? “Russia, Russia, Russia!” (Archived)
Video via Matt Orfalea
Video via TK News
Transcript: Tim Robbins and the Lost Art of Finding Common Ground
Just saw The Shawshank Redemption, for the billionth time, yesterday.
Venezuela’s Oil Output Stutters as ‘Irrational’ US Sanctions ‘Imbalance’ Global Market
However, in a recent address to the press, the US president clarified that resuming oil exports from Venezuela was only one of several options. “There’s a lot of alternatives. We haven’t made up our mind yet,” he told reporters after calling the OPEC+ decision a “disappointment.” Washington has demanded that the Maduro government re-engages in talks with the opposition as a precondition for any changes to its sanctions policy.
Related:
US Plans To Ease Venezuela Sanctions To Let Chevron Pump Oil There Again—Reports
The chip manufacturer cheered on a $76 billion subsidy package for the industry, then announced capital spending cuts and mass layoffs while maintaining payouts to shareholders.
Intel’s Multi-Billion Bait And Switch
Links behind paywalls:
US chipmakers hit by sudden downturn after pandemic boom
Intel Is Planning Thousands of Job Cuts in Face of PC Slump
Chipmaker
Oct 19, 2022 – The US-backed opposition in Thailand replicates in many ways the violence and intimidation the US sponsored in Ukraine from 2014 onward – just as Ukraine is meant as a proxy against Russia – a US client regime in Thailand would transform the country into a proxy against China.
An alarming incident of violence where a Thai opposition leader publicly assaulted his critic is dangerously being portrayed as “heroic” by Western-sponsored opposition media to encourage further violence and intimidation – creating the same division and destruction throughout Thai society that is currently consuming Ukraine.
Thailand: US-backed Opposition’s Violence Intimidates Critics, Paves Way for Regime Change (Odysee)- The New Atlas
Resources:
The Complete Guide: US Government Role in Thailand’s “Student Protests”
The New Atlas – Why is Washington Backing Violent Mobs in Thailand?
Payback For OPEC+ Cuts? Biden May Press U.S. Companies To Limit Saudi Business, Report Says (archived)
The Biden administration wants to leverage U.S. companies with ties to Saudi Arabia but without sacrificing regional security efforts, according to the report.
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The Biden administration will immediately begin scaling back its diplomatic and military activities in Saudi Arabia, at least until OPEC+’s next meeting on December 4, NBC reports, citing an unnamed senior administration official who said the meeting will “be a key test” of how OPEC+ will respond to European Union sanctions that ban Russian oil imports, effective December 5.
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The OPEC+ conglomerate–a Saudi-led alliance of oil-producing countries, including Russia–plans to curb oil production by 2 million barrels a day beginning in November. The move, characterized by the Saudi government as an effort to stabilize energy markets, is expected to increase global oil prices and raise gas prices. The Biden administration has vowed “consequences” for Saudi Arabia over the announcement, and Democratic lawmakers have urged the president to halt arms sales to the kingdom, but the White House has yet to announce how, exactly, it will retaliate and is not expected to do so until Congress returns from recess after the November midterms.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Saudi Arabia said Thursday that the U.S. had urged it to postpone a decision by OPEC and its allies — including Russia — to cut oil production by a month. Such a delay could have helped reduce the risk of a spike in gas prices ahead of the U.S. midterm elections next month.
Saudis say US sought 1 month delay of OPEC+ production cuts
Related:
Saudi Arabia Defied U.S. Warnings Ahead of OPEC+ Production Cut
The one-month delay requested by Washington would have meant a production cut made in the days before the election, too late to have much effect on consumers’ wallets ahead of the vote.
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To entice the Saudis to delay their decision, U.S. officials told the kingdom they would buy oil on the market to replenish Washington’s strategic stockpiles if the price of Brent, the main international benchmark, fell to $75 a barrel, according to U.S. officials and people inside the Saudi government.
Quid pro quo, huh?! 🧐💭
Many of the nation’s largest health insurance companies have made billions of dollars in profits by overbilling the U.S. government’s Medicare Advantage program. A New York Times investigation has revealed that under the Advantage program, health insurance companies are incentivized to make patients appear more ill than they actually are. Some estimates find it has cost the government between $12 billion and $25 billion in 2020 alone. We speak with former healthcare insurance executive Wendell Potter, now president of the Center for Health and Democracy, who says Medicare Advantage will be recognized in years to come as the “biggest transfer of wealth” from taxpayers to corporate shareholders, and blames the lack of regulation over the program on the “revolving door between private industry and government.”
Health Insurance Whistleblower: Medicare Advantage Is “Heist” by Private Firms to Defraud the Public
Related:
‘The Cash Monster Was Insatiable’: How Insurers Exploited Medicare for Billions (archived)
A pair of new drugs offer something many Americans desperately want: a way to lose weight.
‘There’s no way that patients are going to be able to afford that.’ Why aren’t new drugs that can help you lose weight more widely used?
“Ten years ago, policymakers would come out and say, ‘Fat people need to eat less and move more.’” – majority of people still feel this way, unfortunately. Most of them don’t know how hard it is to lose weight or if they have, they don’t understand that one weight loss plan may not work for another. Same way it is with medical treatments. One size fits all doesn’t fit all!
Ms. Cat’s Chronicles 
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